The Tale of Bert Blevens

Sometimes I sit in my pretty house, content to rest upon my laurels of having painted and decorated three bedrooms, cleaned the grout in all the rooms with a toothbrush on my hands and knees, and I think to myself, time to get moving again and get some regular exercise. So I think about it, and then go help myself to a Gigi's cupcake, and think, maybe tomorrow....

Or, I go craft and make stuff....Here's my latest...for little boys--a tooth fairy pillow, up for sale in my little Etsy shop, JeanBeanGifts:

A fall mini pillow to hang on a doorknob:

After a couple of days of crafting, I wake up and think today's the day, I'm going to ride my bike, swim some laps, do my water exercises and I do...(but just ONE of those things, don't get too impressed!  :-)

Or I think about my aches and pains, commiserate with Eldy about getting older and slowing down because of those aches and pains, decide to do nothing but make stuff and then I read about Diana Nyad, 64 years old, the swimmer who swam from Cuba to the Florida shores in a 110 mile swim after 30 years of trying, four times previously, she didn't make it for a variety of very good reasons. If that's not enough to get me off my butt and get swimming or doing some kind of exercise, there's Bert Blevens.....

Bert is a 90 year old guy who decided to get from Louisville to Siesta Key this year not by flying, not by car, but on his recumbent bicycle. He made the trek on his TRIKE BIKE. He rode 930 miles on three wheels in 21 days...This was his SECOND time, he did it 10 years ago at the age of 80!

Blevens couldn't ride on interstate highways, so he rode the byways, the back roads, the side streets and  even some parking lots to get here! And, he plans to do it again, in 10 years when he is 100! His son and daughter accompanied him on different parts of his journey, so he had some support as he rode...But no sag wagon....wow! At one point, the only big problem he had was the love bugs were bothering him. At the end of his journey he said, he felt great, he felt relaxed, maybe a little tired, he might take a little rest. And then, he'll probably go ride some more to see some friends of his. Quite the guy, a Purple Heart, a Silver Star from WWII, and a great dad and granddad, it sounds like....Way to go, Bert!

So no more excuses for me! Time to go work off that cupcake! I shudder to think how many hours of exercise it's going to take to work off that mountain of frosting that was on the cupcake. It was half and half--half frosting and half cupcake! But boy, was it good!

Speaking of exercise, I went down to the clubhouse today to talk to the golf pro about signing up for once a week ladies' golf. I asked her if they had any beginner groups, and she said, "Oh, sure! There's one group called the 'Lites'. They pretty much play golf just to eat at the end."  So I said, "Sign me up!" So MAYBE I will be starting to play in a couple of weeks when the ladies start their Thursday golf group. First I better hit the course with Eldy a couple of times. I have no idea what club to use working my way to the hole!

This "Niners' Club"--Sounds like a win-win situation for me--play nine holes, get some exercise and then a reward at the end--lunch!  :-)